In Brief:
- You will find the best dissertation research areas/topics for future researchers enrolled in various subjects.
- In order to identify future research topics, we have reviewed the Subjects. (recent peer-reviewed studies).
- Through this article, readers will come to know about the significance of critical reflection and the ways in which an individual can become a reflective practitioner.
- We live in a world where people expect everything to be professional and so it is common to hear the terms critical reflection and reflective practitioners in which the term critical creates a deeper meaning to it and sound more intriguing.
Defining critical reflection and reflective practice
The concept of reflection has been in use over a very long time dating back as far as 300 BC where it was described by the great philosopher, Aristotle (Kraut, 2018). Moreover, research on reflective practice was mainly found from the works done by educational philosophers such as John Dewey and Donald Schon. Philosopher Dewey defined reflective practice as “the active, insistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge 24 in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends”. According to Dewey, an individual must have a questioning approach and question why things are the way they are and how they can be.
Effective use of critical reflection
Pedagogical thinkers are more aware of theiractions asking the questions “What is my rational reaction to this, and why do I feel or why do I behave like this? ”(McGregor & Cartwright, 2011). Labosky indicates that it is by taking conscious control that pedagogical thinkers “take a long-term view of how problems can be solved … remain open to learning … acknowledge that there are no simple answers and the conclusions they draw are likely to be provisional”.
Models of reflection
Boud’s Reflective Learning Model
Reflective learning model of Boud (1985) includes three stages that are interrelated and cyclic in nature. In addition to describing their model Boud offer suggestions on how to encourage the skills needed for reflection during each point. During the first step called’ returning to the moment,’ they recommend that the student be given a set period of time to document the sequence of events that happened during the encounter, either in a diary or by talking to someone else. Likewise, in the second stage, called ‘ attending to feelings, ‘ Boud recommend that the student the event’s positive and negative reactions and emotions either in a diary or to someone else. The third level called ‘ re-evaluating the experience ‘ is more difficult than the two previous steps because it consists of four stages: affiliation, inclusion, clarification, and appropriation. These three stages constitute the reflective cycle.
Gibbs’s Reflective Cycle
Gibbs ‘ reflective process in 1988, indicated that after an event, reflection takes place. It provides a framework which generally guides the reflecting process. The system consists of cue questions, based on key concepts, which includes a checklist for learners to work through, react and interpret the cue questions as they progress. The reflective cycle focuses on learning from experiences through the incorporation of feelings, thoughts and recommendations for future actions. (Gibbs, 1988) describes how the reflective cycle is applied to a variety of educational methods including case studies, games, role-plays, and other experiments. (Gibbs, 1988) compares the process of reflections to a formal debriefing. He notes that “learners frequently lurch from superficial accounts of what happened to premature assumptions about what to do next, without sufficient reflection or study”.’ In addition, ‘if the experience has been particularly powerful then the conversation may never go beyond explanation of what has happened or the feelings associated with the experience. When definition and feelings are not adequately addressed, learners can refer to them at a later stage when considering the implications and plans of action. (Gibbs, 1988) reflective cycle comprises of six stages.
Gibbs’s Reflective Cycle
Atkins and Murphy model of reflection
The model which more embodies the empowerment process is that of Atkins, (1994) who introduced a concept of reflection. The concept of reflection aims at describing the thoughts and feelings, analyzing feelings and knowledge relevant to their current situation, assessing the relevance of knowledge and identifying any learning that has taken place and ultimately creating an awareness of uncomfortable thoughts and feelings (Atkins & Murphy, 1994).
Becoming a Reflective practitioner
In order to become a reflective practitioner
Self-awareness
Self-awareness and reflection in the practice have been described as the foundation of professional development. The ability to engage in reflection has been found to develop proficiency, prevent exhaustion and create life-long learning within the self-awareness of professionals as a process of getting to know oneself, although the understanding of what reflective practice is varies considerably within different disciplines.
Description
Description requires remembering and recollecting relevant incidents. This may involve remembering common signs and symptoms in patients with a particular condition, and may involve presenting a new discovery. In a group discussion, written in a clinical guideline, journal article or book, the description could be verbalized in order to allow for learning through reflection
Critical analysis
It includes analyzing a situation’s components. This process involves looking at existing knowledge, challenging assumptions, imagining possibilities and exploring them. The creativity and discovery of alternatives often encourages new concepts and creativity. A critical analysis often requires an assessment of how relevant knowledge is to a particular situation.
Synthesis
This is the process of incorporating new knowledge or experience into our’ personal knowledge base.’ This expertise is used to solve problems in a creative manner and to predict the possible results. This is especially important, as the outcome of reflection includes developing a new viewpoint.
Evaluation Evaluation is defined as making judgments about something’s worth. It can also be defined as’ the value of something to judge or evaluate.’ Both the synthesis and the evaluation are essential to developing a new perspective. A decision on whether a change in practice is appropriate would then have to be made.
Critical analysis
It includes analyzing a situation’s components. This process involves looking at existing knowledge, challenging assumptions, imagining possibilities and exploring them. The creativity and discovery of alternatives often encourages new concepts and creativity. A critical analysis often requires an assessment of how relevant knowledge is to a particular situation.
Synthesis
This is the process of incorporating new knowledge or experience into our’ personal knowledge base.’ This expertise is used to solve problems in a creative manner and to predict the possible results. This is especially important, as the outcome of reflection includes developing a new viewpoint.
Evaluation Evaluation is defined as making judgments about something’s worth. It can also be defined as’ the value of something to judge or evaluate.’ Both the synthesis and the evaluation are essential to developing a new perspective. A decision on whether a change in practice is appropriate would then have to be made
Tools used in reflective practice
It is important to identifying the methods employed to engage in reflective practice. Serious accidents, reflective diaries and monitoring are the most widely used methods for reflective practice (Laming, 2009). The definition and interpretation of critical events has been found to enable practitioners to understand the wider contextual problems and thus encourage critical thinking (Griffin, 2003). Reflective diaries were also highlighted as an effective reflection tool (Finlay, 2008), although they were criticized for their long process.
Reflective practitioners in various fields
Teaching reflective skills in education has grown steadily in prominence, as it became more evident from strong beginnings in professions such as nursing as to how valuable the practice was for work-based learners in general. Reflective teaching skills are beginning to appear throughout the curriculum, with many different types of students being asked to compile reflective papers, studies, journals, records, diaries, or portfolios as part of their UK university assignments (Helyer and Kay, 2015). Assistance with this reflection is frequently found in student handbooks as part of orientation days, allowing exposure to the effective reflective work of past students and through specified sessions containing learning theories and styles, meta-cognition, self-analysis of strengths and weaknesses and writing personal statements (Helyer and Price, 2015).
References
- Atkins, S. and M. (1994). Models of reflection. Nursing Standard,. [Online]. 8 (39). Available from: https://latrobe.libguides.com/reflectivepractice/models.
- Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice’. [Online]. Available from: http://ncsce.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Finlay-2008-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf.
- Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing : a guide to teaching and learning methods. [Online]. London. Available from: https://thoughtsmostlyaboutlearning.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/learning-by-doing-graham-gibbs.pdf.
- Griffin, M.L. (2003). Using Critical Incidents to Promote and Assess Reflective Thinking in Preservice Teachers. Reflective Practice. [Online]. 4 (2). pp. 207–220. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14623940308274.
- Kraut (2018). Aristotle on Becoming Good: Habituation, Reflection and Perception. [Online]. Available from: https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/163199/1/163199.pdf.
- McGregor, D. & Cartwright, L. (2011). Developing Reflective Practise: A guide for beginning teachers. [Online]. Available from: https://epdf.pub/developing-reflective-practice-a-guide-for-beginning-teachers.html.